Keeping Secrets
by sparkles321
Summary: A strange girl appears outside Mr Benedict's home one afternoon. When she faints in the snow,Milligan has no choice but to bring her in. Who is this girl, and what is she doing here? Is she a friend, or a mysterious foe sent by Mr. Curtain? When things go horribly wrong, everyone must face reality. It's possible she could be...BOTH?
1. Chapter 1

"Ah, yes, you may leave, Milligan. We'll continue this discussion later, hmm?" Milligan nodded, flashing a half smile at Mr. Benedict as he left his good friend and employer's study. A government agent had 'dropped by for a friendly visit', and he was more than glad to leave. Still, he felt for Mr. Benedict, who would probably be dodging questions for the next half hour or so. He strolled down the hall, whistling merrily. To an outsider, he was a tall, blond, shabbily dressed man with a dazzling smile, but to a Ten Man, he was a sight that would send ice cold fingers of fear down their back. "Milligan!" It was Rhonda, running towards him. "An alarm?" He asked, ready to spring into action. She shook her head. "No,no. Mr. Bane says there's a strange girl outside. She says it's urgent that she speaks with Mr. Benedict. You'd better check and make sure she isn't an ally of Curta-" Milligan was already sprinting downstairs.

To any other individual, a visitor would be no cause for alarm, but the people living in Mr Benedict's home were not just any other individual. You already know what separates them from the rest of the world -the massive secret known as The Whisperer- so I need not digress. However, there was another cause for alarm. The children did not trust Mr Bane, and, though he never would've let on,Milligan did not entirely trust him either. Carefully opening the front door and locking it behind him, he stepped into the snowy yard. A tall girl with wispy blond hair and watery blue eyes struck him as vaguely framiliar, and he instinctively stored the idea in his head. The girl was stomping her feet to keep warm, and arguing loudly with Mr Bane. "You've got to let me see them,"she begged urgently. "Please, sir." Her voice sounded feeble, yet her tone was imperative. The girl turned to face Milligan, but she suddenly crumpled to the ground like a rag doll, he long hair spilling beside her pale face.

Milligan was beside her in a second. Jerking off one glove, he placed his hand on her her flushed forehead. She was burning with fever. Mr. Bane stood motionless, watching Milligan rather un-helpfully. Quickly checking her for weapons and finding none, Milligan made a split second decision. Gathering her limp body, he barked at Mr. Bane to open the door. Mr. Bane slowly fumbled with his keys, even dropping them once in the snow. Milligan was not the cursing type of agent, but he let out a string of expletives mixed with the word 'hurry.' As soon as the door opened he laid the girl on the foyer couch, making sure all doors leading upstairs were locked. He called Rhonda then, and she came quickly, her hand on her mouth when she saw the listless girl.

Wordlessly snatching a blanket, she covered the girl with it. "She's very ill," Milligan began slowly. "We're going to have to keep her here and interrogate her. But, Rhonda, we _must, must_ keep the children from finding out. It's a good thing Number Two isn't here, Constance can read her like a book. We need to keep this girl a secret from everyone except Mr. Benedict." Rhonda nodded. "We need to find out who she is before the government finds her and questions her." "Exactly, Rhonda." The girl stirred then, and in her fevered state she called "Mr Benedict, where is my sister?" Milligan turned to Rhonda, eyebrows raised. She shrugged."I don't know any more than you do, honest. I'll see if Mr Benedict's done with the government busybodies and send him here if he is. Why don't you ask Moocho for some hot tea and see if the girl can drink it?"

**What do you think so far? I'm still pretty new to the whole fanfiction thing. (check out my other story, a Nancy Drew fanfic, on my account)**

**Please review with tips, comments, critiques, etc! I love hearing what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for reviewing! I was inspired to continue! Lefty, HOW DID YOU KNOW?!**

Milligan returned with hot tea at the same time Rhonda and Mr. Benedict arrived. Mr. Benedict surveyed the situation quickly. "You did right bringing her here, Milligan." Milligan was relieved. "Thanks. I was a bit worried, you never can be sure who's an ally and who isn't, but...' Mr. Benedict put his hand on Milligan's shoulder. "When it comes to matter of friend or foe, I entirely trust you. I believe you've had some experience in character judging, yes?" He laughed his chirpy, lilting laugh that reminded his friends of a dolphin, and even Milligan laughed. The girl stirred then, and Rhonda, who'd been sitting beside the cot, announced that the girl's fever had gone down. Surveying the girl, they decided she was probably a few years older than Kate, sixteen or seventeen. Abruptly, the girl woke and set up, looking frightened. When she saw their kind expressions, she relaxed slightly, but she pressed her lips together into a thin pink line, as if she was willing herself to remain silent,eyes darting around the room but always coming back to rest on Mr. Benedict.

He spoke first, slowly, carefully, almost as he had when he'd hypnotized S.Q. that dreadful day in the cave. "I am Nicholas Benedict. This is my daughter and assistant Rhonda, and this is my agent Milligan. You were very ill with a high fever, and you fainted on the front steps. Milligan brought you here, and Rhonda has been taking care of you. Well, now that you know our names, won't you tell us yours?" Milligan, who had been watching Mr Benedict as he spoke, thought he knew why Mr Benedict spoke so guardedly._ He knows something, something about this girl, a secret none of us know. But what?_ Milligan pondered this as he watched the girl screw up her face, obviously debating whether or not she should give them her name.

"Catherine," she said, breaking her silence at long last. They waited expectantly for a last name, yet she sat there,fingers laced together tightly, saying nothing. Milligan, who had experience with people who would never talk talk unless persuaded - captured Ten Men Men for instance -(although they always managed to escape, due to a few incompetent guards) leaned forward slightly, but Mr Benedict gave a tiny, almost imperceptible, shake of his head that obviously was telling him to wait. Then Mr Benedict said something that astounded them all. "Contraire." Rhonda looked confused, so he elaborated briefly. "That's her last name. Catherine Contraire." Milligan and Catherine's faces were alike- shocked-hers at being known, found out, exposed, his at the realization why Catherine seemed so framiliar.

Yes, she was tall and slender, and Constance was short and pudgy, but their eyes, their hair, their mannerisms(well, almost. Constance couldn't have been as quiet as Catherine had been to save her life)

This girl was Constance' s older sister!


	3. Chapter 3

**Please, please review! It means the world to me when kind people take their time to review! Anyway, I've been noticing my writing style is getting to be a wee bit childish, so I'm going to be as professional as I can in this flashback chapter. Here goes:**

**-3 1/2 years before the last chapter-  
**"Catherine! Catherine Faith Contraire!" Catherine sighed as she walked numbly up the faded, peeling porch steps. Aunt Teresa did not like her. She was aware of that now, just as she was aware of how foolish she'd been when she arrived here, full of hope that her aunt would love her and treat her like a daughter. Oh, but she was stupid, stupid not to realize that Teresa was full of jealousy and malice and spite. Vividly she remembered the terrible day at boarding school when Miss Honeycutt had sent her to the principal's office with a sorrowful face, looking so anguished Catherine knew instantly something was terribly amiss. Principal Morgan had regretfully told her of the terrible train crash which had killed her parents, and, he assumed, her sister Constance.. Her sister's body had not been found, but the police believed she was so small that a body would not be be found. After all, she was barely a year old and tiny for for her age... "No." Quietly at first, then louder. "No. No, nooo!" Screaming, sobbing, frantic. Stubbornness was one of her great qualities, but she could not stubbornly refuse facts. The train was a wisted metal wreck;very few people had survived. Her family...They were dead, dead, dead.

_Dead. _The word pounded in her ears relentlessly, hammering into her in time with the rhythm of her heart. She suddenly felt dizzy and sick, like she was going to throw up but a million times worse. Awkwardly, patting her on the shoulder , Principal Morgan handed her a box of tissues and left, understanding she needed to be alone. Now that the sobs had quieted, Catherine worried about herself. Couldn't she stay at the school? It was her mother's alma mater, a beautiful red brick building with large gardens, kind teachers and surprisingly good cafeteria food from the elderly ladies who worked there(unlike the school she attended from kindergarten to third grade, the age boarders arrived. There, both the food and teachers were terrible.)But she had digressed. She was trying to focus on how she could stay at the school. Mother and father had money, just how much she didn't know, but she would be fine. She was sure of that.

What Catherine didn't know was that that her Aunt Teresa who came to claim her from the school the next afternoon knew about the money as well, and that by adopting Catherine, she would have full access to all of it. Catherine also didn't know that her sister Constance had been found, alive, in the wreck and and taken to an orphanage by Teresa, who made up a convincing story about the girl having no other relatives and she just couldn't take her in. By the time Catherine had learned what Aunt Teresa was up to , it was too late. Her inheritance was gone, squandered away by her greedy Aunt who never spoke to her unless unless it was nesecary. And she still didn't know about her sister. Then, one day, men arrived at her school - she'd managed to get a scholarship, but she could no longer board there-men in pinstripe suits with enormous brief cases.

Somehow, they made her feel creepy inside, even though she'd been told they were testing students who, like her, had special skills for an opportunity to attend L.I.V.E, an elite boarding school like hers. She absolutely had never thought of her psychic ability as a special special skill. Of course she'd noticed she could sense patterns and often knew history lessons before they were announced, but she'd always passed it off as a good memory. Now, they asked her strange questions and made notes, murmuring that "Mr Curtain will be pleased."

Of course, Aunt Teresa was thrilled to learn of the all-expenses-paid school. In fact,however,Catherine didn't want to go. Maybe it was her instinct - her 'special skill'- that allowed her know something was wrong. She packed her bag and ran away the night before L.I.V.E opened. She'd managed to get a job shortly after she turned fifteen, and she hadn't been back to Stonetown since.A bus she was riding broke down on it's way through Stonetown one snowy morning,and on a whim, or maybe instinct, she arrived in front of Stonetown Adoption services. Something inside her told her to go in. The receptionist was reluctant to give information, but by using her abilities Catherine had discovered that Constance was alive and living with a man named Nicholas Benedict.

She'd felt terribly ill, but she'd walked across the town untill she reached the large, grey bricked home home where she'd heard he lived. Too exhausted and sick to continue, she'd apparently fainted and been brought in.

And now the man sitting in front of her announced he knew why she was here and who she was.


	4. Chapter 4

**Review,review, review! We're out of flashbacks and back to where we were in the beginning.**

"How-how did you know that? About my sister, I mean?" Mr. Bennett raised his eyebrows and said nothing for a moment. Then he spoke."What do you hope to accomplish by coming here?" Catherine swallowed. "I just want to _ see _Constance, to know that she's okay. To talk to her. I can sense you all love her, and I know she'll get better care here than I could ever give her. But, when I realized she was alive-" The girl's brave front vanished, and she sobbed brokenly, as if the one thing she'd ever loved was gone, and, in fact, it was. Rhonda handed her a fistful of tissues, and she accepted them gratefully.

Mr. Benedict murmured something to Milligan and left the room swiftly. Milligan, knowing he was going to talk to Constance, could only wonder what was going through his head. Rhonda began questioning Catherine gently, and the girl told her everything you learned in the previous chapter. Meanwhile, Mr. Benedict was heading to his office. He asked Number Two to send Constance up there also. When he arrived, Constance was already there, puffing slightly from the stairs. "Hello, Constance. Mint?" He asked, popping one into his mouth. Constance accepted the round candy, but she looked expectantly at him. "Something's wrong, Mr. Benedict. I can tell. What is it? You're a lot harder to read than Number Two, you know." "Dear girl, someone is here to see you. The-" Constance interrupted, blanching. "Not Mr. Pressissus!" "No, Constance. Nothing quite so bad," he gave her a glimmer of a smile,"as that. Constance.." He sighed tiredly, running his hand over his rumpled plaid suit. Deciding he should just tell tell Constance the truth, for all the soothing language and diplomatic efforts in the world would have no effect on her, he began. "There's a girl here to see you, Constance. She's sixteen, and I'm sure she's MUCH nicer than Mr Presissus." Pausing, he laid his large hand on Constance's tiny one. "She's your sister." How did he know this? Mr. Benedict's good friend and social worker had informed him of the girl who came to the adoption agency, inquiring about his family, and he had pieced together the rest, but Constance didn't need to know that.

Instead, he watched her face. She looked confused, shocked really, but a slow smile came across her face as she repeated incredulously,"I have a sister?!" Mr. Benedict nodded, eyes twinkling. She sobered quickly. "I thought my parents died in a train wreck," she said softly. Mr Benedict' face changed. "They did, dear. Your sister was away at school at the time of the accident. You survived the wreck and went to the orphanage, but you don't remember any of that." Constance nodded, abruptly leaping out of her chair. "Can we go see-" Looking startled, she said "I don't even know her name!"

"Your sister's name is 'Catherine'. But, Constance we must not rush this. Do you understand what I'm saying? These things take time,and and perhaps you shouldn't even see her today. Maybe we should wait until you're -" Constance was out the door. Knowingly a restraining effort was futile, he smiled ruefully and walked after her. "Milligan, Rhonda, why don't we go tell the others this news, and Constance can-" "No," Constance interrupted. Suddenly she seemed seemed vunerable and tiny. "Don't leave me!" Clutching Mr. Benedict's hand, she looked at the door where Catherine waited. "Dear, I wasn't going to leave you alone. I fully intended to have Milligan wait outside in the hall. I think it would go better if it was just you and Catherine." Shaking her head vigorously, the little girl declared "No." "Very well. Shall we go in?"

Constance nodded. "Y-yes." Mr. Benedict pushed the door open. Constance felt strangely worried. What would the girl behind this door be like?

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	5. Chapter 5

"Constance!" Catherine half-rose from her seat, arms outstretched, but she hesitated, as if unsure of what to do. Constance was frozen in place, blue eyes widening as she studied the girl. "You really _are_ my sister,"she whispered, obviously having sensed it. Mr. Bennedict smiled and gave Constance a little nudge. Constance moved toward Catherine, who hugged her tightly. "Connie-girl!" Constance, who hated displays of affection and being called 'connie-girl' more than anything else in the world, grimaced visibly, but she did not voice her discomfort. Instead, she asked haltingly, hesitatingly, "Who were my- I mean our- parents? Where they ordinary people? Do I look like them? What were they like?" It felt good to finally be able to ask someone that, and she waited expectantly, still keeping her distance.

Catherine blinked. "Um...Well, Daddy was away a lot. On business trips. He worked for a government agency, but his job was sort of secret. I never knew exactly what he did. Whenever he returned home we always had so much fun. We played games and watched movies. Ordinary stuff, but he made it fun. His name was David. And Mother, she was always laughing. She loved to write- little stories and poems for the local paper. Her name was Samantha, but Daddy called her Sam. We have her eyes." Catherine screwed up her face. "Am I making much sense?" Her words had been all jumbled, but Constance understood what she'd meant. So Constance nodded. Her family was REAL to her now- a Daddy who worked a lot but was fun to be around, a mother who was always laughing...and a sister. She turned to face Catherine. Why was it so hard to talk? She needed to say something, anything, so she asked "How old are you?" "Sixteen. You're almost four, right?" Constance nodded again. She had one more question to ask,but she was almost afraid to say it.

Catherine laid her hand on her little sister's arm. "They'd always wanted another child, and you were a wonderful surprise...they were always talking about you. Mother and Daddy loved you, Constance." Her last sentence broke something inside of Constance, and she felt a sob rising in her throat. Taking a step closer to Catherine, she allowed herself to be pulled into another embrace, but this one was not uncomfortable. It felt right.

**Author note: I had this chapter written beautifully. It was honestly one of my best chapters. And then... My kindle messed up, and I wasn't able to save it, so I lost it! Arg. Don't you hate it when that happens? So I wrote this mediocre chapter. Oh, well. Review?**


	6. Chapter 6

**First of all, I am SO SORRY for not updating. Things have been crazy lately. But I'm back now! :) Thank you to all the super amazing reviewers!**

"Miligan, would you escort our guest to the dining room? I'd like to have a word with Constance. We'll join you shortly."

Constance looked up. Mr Benedict looked almost sad. She turned and followed him to his study.

"Constance?"

She crossed her pudgy arms and leaned back in the enormous chair she'd decided to settle in. "_What?"_

"Constance!"

"Sorry."

"Constance, there's a very real possibility that this girl is a spy sent by Curtain. She's an excellent actor, but..."

Constance interrupted him. "NO! She is my sister, I can sense it."

"Dear girl, Mr. Curtain is quite good at tricking the brain to believe things, isn't he?"

Her face fell, then brightened. "But he's in prison!"

"He could've told his plan to a visitor who came to see him. I'm just saying we should be careful, Constance. This would be a wonderful way for Curtain' s group to infiltrate the house, wouldn't it?"

He sighed morosely. "I hate to tell you this, Constance. But if you suspect anything, will you tell us?"

She looked away. This was her sister, she was so certain! But she finally nodded and muttered an exasperated 'yes'. Then she headed to the dining room for lunch.

Mr. Benedict watched her go with a troubled frown. Milligan had told him that he was suspicious of the strange girl, Catherine, and if Milligan said something like that, it was not to be taken lightly. But Constance was so happy, so certain! He walked downstairs as well,finding a flurry of happy introductions going on as Catherine met Kate, Sticky, and Reynie. Milligan was leaning against one wall watching them, and when he saw Mr. Benedict, he trotted over.

"There's just something about her that I can't quite place my finger on."

"But Constance can sense it, that this is her sister."

"Perhaps it is her sister, and she's being used by Curtain, maybe even brainwashed."

Mr. Benedict nodded a little. "Her story did match up,so your idea could be possible."

There was a crash, and they overlooked up, then smiled. In one corner, Kate was showing Catherine how to balance a plate on one finger while Reynie, Sticky, and Constance looked on admiringly.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you for the support of this this little ol' story! Much love! Things are about to get interesting...**

***Later that night***

It was evening, and Rhonda and Number Two were preparing a guest room for Catherine, who'd accepted their offer to spend another night with a surprising bit of reluctance. All through dinner, she fidgeted nervously, and when Moocho's delicious meal was over, she asked if she could take a walk outside. Mr. Benedict beamed.

"By all means! The roses along the fence are in full bloom, and it's quite lovely outside tonight."

His face smiled at the girl, but his eyes never left Milligan' s, and when Catherine stepped out of the old grey-brick house, Milligan slipped out as well, following her from a distance.

Just as he'd suspected, Catherine walked directly down the street, until she was out of sight from the house. There she sat on a peeling rusted bench and waited . She was clutching a manilla folder and seemed anxiously impatient, waiting for someone-or something- that she half expected, half dreaded. Milligan was not surprised when a sharply dressed businessman in a jaunty pinstripe suit arrived shortly, swinging a briefcase.

_Ten Men, _Milligan thought, wrinkling his nose in distaste. _This should be interesting._ He slid a small notebook and pen from his pocket and inched forward, cautiously moving into hearing range. He crouched behind a tree, flipped open the notebook, and casting a wary eye about, jotted down Catherine and the Ten Man's conversation.

Catherine spoke first. She was turning a tissue over and over in her hands nervously. "I-I don't know if I can do this. I mean, she _is _my sister, and they've all been so nice to me..."

"You promised Mr. Curtain," the other voice answered coldly, and Milligan decided it must be Garotte from the way he spoke.

"Yes, but..."

"When he approached you with the news your sister was alive AND that he would give you a job, you agreed to it, did you not? Are you not grateful for the money?"

"Oh, I am! It's funding my junior college! It just feels wrong somehow. I was so glad to meet my sister, and-"

Garrotte cut her off. "We assured you no harm would come to the little girl. That should be enough for you. And you're getting paid. The rest of them, it is of no matter to you. If not for Mr. Curtain, you would never know she was still alive. Now, what did you tell Benedict and the agent?"

_The agent. _Milligan gave a wry smirk and listened intently.

"I told them the truth, for the most part, about the accident, and me believing she was dead. And Aunt Theresa, and how I didn't like her. And how I ran away from L.I.V.E."

"A foolish mistake. I'm glad Mr. Curtain still had his file on you and managed to piece your background together. What else?"

"I didn't tell about how you contacted me and sent me to Stonetown. I told them how I looked at the adoption agency, like you said, and pretended it was a hunch, a wild guess."

"Good, good. How did you get in?"

"I fainted."

"Impressive acting?"

"No, it was real. I was ill in the train coming here, I suppose."

"Very well. May I see your notes and the map of the house?"

Catherine looked at Garotte. "You're sure my sister won't be harmed?"

"Yes, yes-"

"But what about the others? Kate and Mr. Benedict and..."

"They'll be fine."

"Why do you need a map of the house, and notes on their routines? What are you planning?"

Garotte tapped his foot and held out his palm impatiently, and with a good deal of reluctance Catherine placed the papers in his hand.

He bowed elaborately. "It was a pleasure doing business with you, Miss Contraire. Here is your money- the other hundred shall arrive at your apartment within a few days, assured, of course, you keep this secret."

"Alright."

Garotte was off, walking briskly away, and Milligan debated trailing him and talking to Catherine before following Garotte to a ritzy hotel.

Hmm. A hotel meant he was staying for a short time, obviously whatever Curtain was planning would happen soon...


	8. Chapter 8

**Lefty44, much love! Your reviews are amazing!**

Garotte chuckled as he entered the hotel elevator. _ Stupid, stupid girl_.

"Will anyone get hurt?" He mimicked her in his head. Did she really believe him? Well, it was nice to have someone to do all the grunt work and leave him to the planning. Things were much more elegant that way. He brushed a speck of lint off his spotless suit and headed towards the waiting car. Mr. Curtain would be very pleased.

_Maybe I'll finally get my promotion._

That would certainly be nice. In the hotel lobby, he strode to the elevator and pressed the 'up' button. With a lot of careful planning, Mr. Curtain would believe he, Garotte, had engineered all this...He walked out of the elevator and into his hotel room, still thinking. If anyone could run a full-scale business operation from a prison cell, it was his aforementioned employer. When ever his 'sons'- McCracken and Crawlings in clever disguises- visited him, they used a prescribed code that allowed them to seem as if they were having a normal conversation. In this manner, they had planned an entire attack in Mr. Benedict's home, in an effort to recover parts needed to fix the Whisperer. If the Whisperer was fixed, prison guards could be brainwashed, and Leodroptha could walk free and resume his efforts to control the world. By chance, Hertz had run a scan on every one in the home, and discovered two Contraire' s in Curtain' s file.

There was a ringing sound, and Garotte snatched his phone off the desk.

"Garotte," he growled into it.

"Sharpe," the voice on the other end answered. "Did you get all the information?"

"Yes, of course. Like taking candy from a baby. The girl is naive. Everything should goes as planned."

"Tomorrow at midnight, everything will be ready?"

"Yes."

"Very well, I will inform the others."

"Midnight it is, then."

"Goodbye."

Their phone calls were short and to the point- you never knew when a government agencies would check in on them. Mr. Curtain paid well, and they must not disappoint.

He paced the room. Everything must run perfectly. What was to be done about Benedict's pesky agent? Sitting down, he removed the papers Catherine had given him from the jacket and scanned them quickly. Then he dialled McCracken.

Within ten minutes, they had formed a _very_ dastardly plan.

* * *

"...and we should be extremely cautious."

Milligan finished his official report to Mr. Benedict and sighed.

"If you don't mind me asking, sir, how are you going to tell Constance?"

Mr. Benedict looked up sadly. "I'm not. She wouldn't believe me, I'm afraid. Perhaps we should simply inform her and the others to keep an eye out?"

Milligan shook his head. "I hate to say this, but if Kate and the boys think something's going to happen, only God knows what they'd do."

Mr Benedict chuckled slightly. "They'd probably rig up some elaborate trap. How soon do you think the attack will be held, Milligan?"

"Within this week. I don't think we have anything to worry about tonight, though. Will-"

There was a knock at the door, and Kate danced in.

"Milligan! I need you for my charades team! Miss Perumal and Reynie are beating Number Two and Rhonda pretty badly, and I want to see if we can take them on!"

Milligan quickly hid all traces of worry from his expression.

"Sure, Katie Cat! I'll be down in a jiffy."

"She tiptoed up to give him a peck on the cheek. "Thanks, Milligan!"

Swinging out the door- she never walked, she ran- Kate slid down the banister and skipped into the living room. Milligan watched her go with a troubled face.


End file.
